When it comes to your credit score, it’s important to keep credit cards open, even if you don’t use it all that much. While that credit card will stay on your credit report for 10 years, unless you have enough credit cards to counter the negative impacts of that card, your credit score will drop significantly when the account disappears. This of course is due to the plunge in average age of accounts plus the record of all of your on time payments disappearing.
With that said, there is a timeline to how long a credit card issuer will keep your credit card open for if there is no activity. Activity usually means either paying off balances or using the card to make a purchase. It looks like we may be seeing a change in regards to the timeline of Chase’s cards.
The News
We are seeing reports of some people having their Chase accounts close after not showing any activity. Typically, the issuer (in this case, Chase) will send out a letter with a message to use your card within a certain timeframe, or they would close the account. If you’re an unfortunate soul that doesn’t get that mailer in time, you could try to see if they would be willing to reopen the card. Some issuers may be willing to work with you, but Chase may not be that forgiving.
Final Thoughts
Really, the lesson here is that no matter how many different credit cards you have, it’s important to use them from time to time to ensure that they stay open. I know everyone has their own timeline on how often to use a credit card.
For me personally, I like to do it right around the end/beginning of a new quarter. While the Freedom and other 5% back rotating category cards change category, I like to go and use all of my sock drawer’d cards. I usually fill up $10 worth of gas on each card until my tank is full, and then buy some mints or something from inside just to keep it going. While it probably isn’t necessary to use a card every 3 months, I just like to play it safe.
Have you had an account closed for inactivity? How often do you charge something to one of your sock drawer’d cards? Let us know below!
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